The La Paz shopping and retail center proposal goes before the City Council for a second time on Monday, but with an added twist. The possibility for the construction of a wastewater treatment facility on the property is included in a revised development agreement made between La Paz and city staff. The City Council and later the California Coastal Commission must vote on the agreement.
There are two versions of the project proposed for a 15-acre property on Civic Center Way between Papa Jack’s State Park and the Malibu Library. The larger option (112,000 square feet) includes the development agreement. The original agreement called for La Paz to donate 2.3 acres of land and $500,000 to Malibu to build a City Hall. The revised version has La Paz offering the property and money for “any municipal purpose,” including a wastewater treatment plant.
At a September hearing on La Paz, Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich said she wanted a wastewater treatment plant built on the property that would be connected to various properties throughout the area. Don Schmitz, a planning consultant hired by La Paz, said this week his client would be open to the idea.
“We are amenable to other municipal uses just so long as it goes through the proper environmental review and permitting process,” Schmitz said. “And that includes a wastewater treatment facility.”
Other possibilities listed in the agreement include a library, community center, park and open space. City Attorney Christi Hogin said this week if the council approves the development agreement, there would be a permitting review process for whatever is proposed for the donated land.
The council also has the option on Monday to vote for a 99,000-square-foot version of the development. Like the larger version, it includes a collection of retail, restaurant and office buildings ranging in size from 6,000 square feet to 17,000 square feet. The smaller option does not involve a donation.
The Planning Commission in January recommended the council reject the larger project and approve the smaller one. Last month, a shorthanded commission voted 2-1 to support the revised agreement for the larger project, although it did not specify which version of the project it preferred.
The larger option would require an amendment to the city’s Local Coastal Program because of its size, among other issues. This option would require final approval from the California Coastal Commission. The smaller project would not need to go before the Coastal Commission, unless it is appealed.
Final opposition details
La Paz is a company created for this project by Chicago developers who initially submitted an application in 2000. The ownership has many supporters and many opponents. Eric and Tamara Gustavson, who live next to the site, are the loudest critics of the project. Tamara Gustavson is the daughter of billionaire B. Wayne Hughes, a media-shy and private man who made a rare public appearance at the January Planning Commission hearing to speak in opposition to the project.
Attorney Alan Block, who represents the Gustavsons, said this week La Paz has accommodated most of his clients’ requests for project changes. But he said the most significant problem is the refusal by La Paz for a written agreement with his clients that would place them in charge of the right to replace dead landscaping. Schmitz has said a number of times that this is a task for the city, not private residences.
“We feel this is a very large project that is going to have unmitigated impacts and my clients are the only ones directly impacted by it,” Block said.
The people living and working at Sycamore Farms, also located near the project site, have voiced various concerns regarding the project’s potential impact on traffic, noise, safety and security.
Schmitz said this week negotiation with the neighbors is at a stalemate.
“La Paz incorporated every redesign request as put forward by the Gustavsons and everything requested by Sycamore Farms shy of a complete redesign of the project,” Schmitz said. “It appears they are still not satisfied.”
Also on Monday, the council will discuss the possibility of creating a “green building program” in Malibu modeled after one recently approved by the county government. The county program includes building standards that call for low-impact development and drought-tolerant landscaping. The council will not be voting on whether to implement the new standards, but whether to have city staff draft language for such a program that would go before the council for a vote later.
Monday’s meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall’s Council Chambers. The agenda can be accessed online at www.ci.malibu.ca.us; click “City Council / Commissions” followed by “City Council Agendas.”